You could say it all started with a pair of shoes -- the most minimal of shoes, made of woven straw -- in 1991. That's when Denver-based artist Viviane Le Courtois strapped the first pair on her feet and ventured off on a series of foot-treks around the world, creating art through the act of walking and slowly wearing down the handmade footwear in the process.

But Viv's shoes are only the start of the fascinating career that's ensued, as she's slowly created a body of work inspired by the repurposing of objects and the natural processes of growth and decay. Her new show, Edible?, which opened Thursday at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, retreads that route with a retrospective that culminates in a brand-new installation, The Garden of Earthly Delights, a living, growing indoor farm of edible plants. And starting today, the artist will be serving food grown in the installation on Saturdays throughout the show's run.

Following is just a taste of places where Viv's art experiments have taken us over the last twenty years.

Chaussures (126 pairs): Installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, 2010 (in Energy Effects: Art and Artifacts from the Landscape of Glorious Excess -- in conjunction with the Biennial of the Americas).

Venus of Consumption: Crochet, silicone, stuffing, 2010.

How to Eat an Artichoke?: Interactive installation with beetle kill pine, ceramic, sumac branches, yucca, artichokes, vinaigrette, mulberry paper. During and after interaction with the public. RedLine Denver, Colorado, 2010.

Susan Froyd is a Denver native who studied English, Art and finally Journalism at Metro State University, and also managed movie theaters and sold art supplies before landing at Westword in 1992. Decades later, she still feels privileged to serve the vibrant artists in all disciplines who make our town a more engaging place to live.